Totem Arro vs Totem Sttaf. Which one image better?

Bigdd...

Try to personally audition any of the suggestions already made - one or more may leave you also suitably impressed. Try to stroll down to an actual bricks and mortar dealer to get some guidance and the ability to actually hear whatever you have on your list - only you can do it.

As far as imaging goes , the Regas , Tannoys, ATC, PMC and a host of many others are every bit as good at a minimum (or frequently better ) compared to both the ARROS And FORESTS .... and in my opinion many are on par or better in imaging and PRaT IF YOU HAVE the best synergy in the rest of the system.

The Totems are fine kit ...sure.... but they just one of many many choices in a very crowded $2000 level arena. The only way you are going to shoehorn Forests in at that price point is buying used.

W/o prejudice to the above, I wouldn't accept any recommendation in these blogs as gospel without an actual personal audition first -- full stop. And I certainly wouldn't just buy any speaker without considering a plan for the rest of the system to get synergy ( or vice versa)

Regrettably the cold hard facts are that forum bloggers push their own heavily biased personal faves that are pure anecdotal value judgements that regrettably have negligible to nil assurance that these blind offerings will actually work in your environment or with your system.

There is some more homework for you to do ..... Good luck.

I do not find that either Sttaf or Arro need a huge current amp. In fact, the Sttaf is an 8 ohm speaker designed to be easy to drive. I would not use a mass market receiver, but integrateds from the likes of NAIM and Creek drive them very well. I had a chance to spend some time with Vince this week and he re-iterated that the Sttafs were designed to be easy to drive. Quality components definitely matter, I just would not caught up in huge power for these speakers. Hawks do like more power.

In a different vein, Totem recently introduced the $500 Kin Mini which can be paired with the Kin sub ($700). The Kin Mini was designed using ideas from the Torrent drivers used in the new Metal series. It really is a remarkable little speaker. It is a nice alternative for those you want something small. The combo covers 29 Hz to 40,000 Hz.

Akg, thank you so much for your positive feed backs. Really appreciated it and will do auditioning myself!

Just an interesting observation upon visiting Totem's website- the renowned Model 1 Signature appears to be no longer in production. I have had these amazing speakers twice in my system over the years. Truly a classic in my opinion.

Having owned both, I preferred the Arros precision and imaging. The Sttaf is less articulate but bigger on the low end. In a perfect world I would pair the Arros with a fast sub, but they are still nice as stand-alone speakers.